Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe Now
Kitchen Social, a popular Columbus, Ohio-based restaurant, plans to open its first location in Indiana at The Union at Fishers District—a mixed-use real estate development that is set to break ground next year near Interstate 69 and East 116th Street.
Kitchen Social is expected to open in the second half of 2026 in a 4,500-square-foot space at 11401 Ikea Way, according to an announcement by Indianapolis-based Thompson Thrift Development LLC. The restaurant currently has five locations in Ohio, in the Cincinnati, Cleveland and Columbus markets.
Kitchen Social’s menu features Asian, Indian, Italian and southern U.S. options, along with steaks, seafood, salads and sandwiches. Entrees are priced from $15 for a tempura shrimp bowl to $37 for a teriyaki ribeye, with most meals under $20. The restaurant also offers brunch and dessert options, along with a variety of cocktails and wines.
Kitchen Social was named Best New Restaurant in 2020 by 614 Magazine, a year after its first location opened in Columbus, Ohio. The Columbus-based magazine named Kitchen Social as the city’s Best Overall Restaurant in 2022.
Kitchen Social was founded by Brian O’Malley, the former CEO of Columbus, Ohio-based Bravo Brio Restaurant Group, with partners Phil Yandolino, Brian Harvey and Justin Stratford. The company operates the Bravo! restaurant chain, which had locations near Castleton Square Mall (1995-2019), in the Willow Lake East shopping center (1998-2020) and at Greenwood Park Mall (2008-2014).
“It’s about providing something more than just great food and service, but something where people genuinely make a connection with what we do,” O’Malley said in a 2023 press release announcing an investment partnership with Connecticut-based Rosser Capital Partners. “I think that’s why we’ve been so fortunate so far.”
Thompson Thrift is developing the 10-1/2-acre The Union at Fishers District development, which is expected to include about 250 luxury apartments, 60,000 square feet of retail and restaurants, 150 hotel rooms, 70,000 square feet of Class A office space and an 800-space parking garage that will provide parking for residents and visitors.
In 2022, the city of Fishers announced a major expansion at the $750 million, 123-acre Fishers District that includes the Union, the Commons (an 8,500-seat events center, dining, retail and entertainment options) and Slate at Fishers District (a $63 million multifamily and garden home community).
The Union is expected to break ground in 2025, and the first tenants are expected to open in late 2026.
Kitchen Social is the second restaurant to sign a lease agreement at The Union at Fishers District.
Fishers-based Arechiga Restaurant Group plans to open Piedra in 2026 in a 5,000-square-foot space with an outdoor patio area. It will be the second of Arechiga’s area restaurants to carry the Piedra name.
The first Piedra restaurant is set to open at the end of the year at the Bottleworks District in downtown Indianapolis. That Piedra location will be on the first floor of the 120,000-square-foot, five-story flat-iron building nearing completion at the northeast corner of College and Massachusetts avenues.
Arechiga Restaurant Group, owned by Paul Arechiga, manages eight dining concepts in 14 locations across the Indianapolis and Chicago areas.
Please enable JavaScript to view this content.
I’ve yet to see a restaurant do that many cuisines and do any of them well. The bar is low here for what counts as quality, so perhaps it will be a hit.
There are plenty of fantastic restaurants in the Indianapolis area, so I suppose that bar is as set as high as your tastes and budget allow. While their menu does offer a variety of cuisines, it is not terribly expansive, so no reason to assume that the dishes aren’t done well. We’re not talking a Cheesecake Factory sized menu here. Reviews for their other locations look to be overwhelmingly positive.
There were also other Bravo and Brio restaurants in the area. The food was not so good and neither was the service.